Any fans of the Persona series, Persona 3 in particular, will probably be excited to watch Persona Trinity Soul, especially since most synopses describe it as a sequel to P3. Be warned, though, that while the anime does make reference to things in Persona 3 and even features a cameo of one character, it has very little to do with its predecessor. Plus, if you can manage to figure out what's going on, you'll realize there are a few things happening that are actually inconsistent with the video game series.
Story: 3/10
The series goes from boring, to confusing, and ends with disappointing. Like the Persona
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RPGs, there's a big focus on character development. Unlike the games, however instead of balancing that development with action, most episodes are 24-minutes worth of talking heads. The moments of action are minimal and usually appear at the end of an episode, leaving you with a cliff-hanger. However, the following episode doesn't start right where the previous one left off. So, you're forced to sit through another 20 minutes of talking, repeating the process all over again. The second half of the series has the same amount of talking heads, but this time the heads are saying things you don't even understand. The writers added too many elements to the plot and left most of them unanswered. I just wish the characters would stop speaking in metaphors for a minute and tell me what the hell is going on in plain English...or Japanese, SOMETHING. Why are they called “whale feathers”? Why are they talking about whales? What the hell is everyone doing? What's with the red lolita chick flying around? Also, I won’t mention any spoilers, but there are a few things surrounding the existence of personas, as well as one of the characters in this anime, that I found were inconsistent with the video games.
Art: 4/10
When reading other reviews, I noticed most people really enjoyed the animation. Maybe I'm just a snob, but I found the animation to be some of the worst I've seen in anime. The characters aren't drawn consistently; facial structure or anatomy unintentionally change from frame to frame. Shin's chin might look normal in a close-up but suddenly be WAY too long when the camera zoom's out. There were a number of scenes where a character moved their head and their eyes would suddenly be too far apart or too close together. These are the kind of anatomical errors I'd expect from a beginner artist, not professional work. Aside from the fight scenes, there wasn't a lot of actual "animation," either. There was a lot of panning across still images or zoom-ins and outs, making slow episodes feel even slower. The backgrounds were drawn well, though. The environments and dark atmosphere of the series were the only things I really enjoyed about the art.
Sound: 7/10
Listening to the background music in this series was one of the few things that kept me watching. I remember getting so excited when I was watching the first episode and suddenly heard a track from P3. From then on, I would wait for scenes to change then listen to see if I could recognize the background music. The original music in the series isn't too bad either. There are several catchy tunes that make the fight scenes (the few and far between) even more enjoyable to watch.
Character: 5/10
The. characters. are. so. flat. I wanna say they're like "diet" version of previous Persona characters. I can see similarities to characters like Junpei, Fuuka, and Yukari, but they lack the depth and empathy said characters possess. They spent so much time angsting over their past, I found myself more frustrated than sympathetic. Akihiko Sanada from P3 is introduced in the second half of the series, and while he's by far one of the more entertaining characters, I still found that even his personality was somewhat diluted. Maybe hanging out with Shin and company too much killed his soul. But even with this, I thought the most interesting characters were Akihiko, Itou, Narasaki, and Inui only because I'm convinced he's Ken Amada in disguise. While Shin's friends are off angsting over the loss of their family members, Jun's playing Persona Whisperer, and Shin's having what looks like a bad acid trip, those guys were actually trying to figure out what the hell was going on. They were investigating, researching and showing general interest in the, you know, PLOT. I think it says something when the best characters don't even get featured in the opening.
Enjoyment: 4/10
Like I said earlier, the few things I enjoyed were the well-drawn backgrounds, music, the investigations Itou and Narasaki conducted, and a 28-year-old Akihiko in a suit. If there wasn't a song I recognized or a scene with Akihiko and/or the cops, I found myself getting easily bored. I'd spaced out and miss what they were saying, but even if I rewound to catch the dialogue again, I'd still be confused about what was going on.
Overall: 4/10
I don't know if I can describe Persona Trinity Soul as a sequel or a stand-alone series. It's too far gone from it's supposed predecessor to be a real sequel, but the characters make too many references to Persona 3 for it to be a stand-alone anime. This also makes it hard for me to assume who the target audience was. Persona 3 fans would probably be disappointed with the lack of action and less entertatining persona summons, and those who haven't played the Persona 3 would find it too confusing to get into.
This series isn't worth watching for the plot or other characters. Fangirls can go ahead and watch it for the eye-candy; fanboys are just screwed. If you liked P3 and you liked Akihiko or you just like hot guys, watch this series to see Akihiko strut around in a suit. Watch it from episode 14 on and pretend it's a show about him walking around and talking. Don't worry about not understanding whatever else is happening in the show. Odds are, you won't understand what's going on even if you watch it from the beginning.
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Mar 25, 2011
Persona: Trinity Soul
(Anime)
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Any fans of the Persona series, Persona 3 in particular, will probably be excited to watch Persona Trinity Soul, especially since most synopses describe it as a sequel to P3. Be warned, though, that while the anime does make reference to things in Persona 3 and even features a cameo of one character, it has very little to do with its predecessor. Plus, if you can manage to figure out what's going on, you'll realize there are a few things happening that are actually inconsistent with the video game series.
Story: 3/10 The series goes from boring, to confusing, and ends with disappointing. Like the Persona ... |
